23 December 2009

The last big block, an L-18 Vortec 8100 496 CID monster, was completed last week in GM's Tonawanda engine plant in New York last week.

The first big block was produced in 1958 and over it's 51 year history was made in displacements from 396 to 496 and placed in everything from work trucks to family sedans and station wagons to performance icons like the Impala, Chevelle, and Corvette.

Motorheads all across the globe mourn it's passing even as greenies celebrate it's demise. Count me among the motorheads. I never owned a vehicle with a GM big block, but then again I'm not dead yet either so there's still time. Five million of them were produced, surely there's still one or two to be had.